Woman Adds 2 Fired Dancers To Ballet Lawsuit Over Leaked Nude Photos

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — A woman who sued the New York City Ballet company over the sharing of nude photos and videos is amending her lawsuit to add two fired dancers and a donor as defendants.

A lawyer for Alexandra Waterbury said Tuesday that dancers Amar Ramasar and Zachary Catazaro as well as donor Jared Longhitano participated in the unlawful sharing of nude photos of women taken without their consent.

The 19-year-old former student initially sued the ballet and ex-boyfriend Chase Finlay. She alleges the ballet fostered a “fraternity-like atmosphere,” where Finlay, along with other male dancers, employees, and donors, shared sexually explicit images of her without her consent.

Waterbury told CBS2 that she and Finlay had been dating for about one year when she discovered the explicit images on his laptop. She said she had no idea they were taken.

In a statement, the ballet said the men “engaged in inappropriate communications that, while personal, off-hours and off-site, had violated the norms of conduct that NYCB expects from its employees and were unacceptable.”

Waterbury’s attorney, Jordan Merson, said City Ballet should return the money that Longhitano donated. A City Ballet spokesman said Longhitano donated $12,000 to the company between 2010 and 2016.